


Second Chances

by pizarra



Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Friendship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2019-05-30 07:35:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15092126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pizarra/pseuds/pizarra
Summary: After finishing a mission one day, Eggsy saves a young woman from an abusive boyfriend--turns out it was a neighbor from the council estate.





	Second Chances

Her name was Jane.

Eggsy was walking/jogging down alleyways as he kept one eye on the street and one ear on Merlin. The mission was a simple reconnaissance task that required a bit of lifting and pickpocketing, and he knew that he did the job with a smoothness that even Harry would be jealous of, but he still wanted to make sure that he’s not being followed.

A yelp and a thud caught his attention. There was a commotion on the alley to his right and he stopped to watch. A young woman was on the filthy ground, cowering from an ugly man with a raised fist above her. Oh, that just wouldn’t do.

“A gentleman doesn’t need to hit a woman to feel like a man,” Eggsy said as he stepped closer. The steel in his voice stopped the brute from further harming the girl, but didn’t lessen the idiot’s aggression. Ugly squinted his eyes at him. “After all, he is a _gentle_ man.”

“‘Oo the fuck are you?” Ugly grunted.

Eggsy smirked. “Does it really matter? I suggest you leave the young woman alone, sir, before things get ugly.” At the corner of his eye, the girl scrambled away and pressed herself against a dirty wall.

“Git lost, fucker, before I punch your face in.” Ugly was making an even uglier face as he sneered at Eggsy, an inspiring feat, to say the least.

He sighed. “Very well.” Then, Eggsy made the universal motion for ‘come at me.’

 _“I want to see this.”_ Merlin chuckled in his ears, making Eggsy smile.

One step forward from Ugly, and Eggsy can tell that he’d had a bit of drink, and Eggsy calculated exactly how strong his punch had to be to drop the other man. Ugly took another step forward, and Eggsy just stayed where he was and raised an eyebrow to show his impatience at the slow progression of things. Ugly didn’t seem to like that and charged at Eggsy with a loud growl.

Eggsy sighed again. He put a foot backward and bent at the knees a bit. Right, not much force, then. He waited until Ugly was a foot from him before raising his fist and punching the guy in the jaw. The crack of Ugly’s bone was loud in the deserted alleyway, and Eggsy winced at how hard the man fell.

Merlin cackled in his ear. _“I believe you miscalculated, lad.”_

Eggsy rolled his eyes, even though Merlin couldn’t see it. “Shove off, Merlin.” Still, he checked if the man’s still breathing. “Better get an ambulance here, Merlin. I think I broke his jaw.”

_“On its way.”_

“Eggsy?”

He turned to face the young woman, who was now staring at him. He stared.

“Oh my god, it is you!”

Jane. A friend from the old neighbourhood, before everything went to hell and subsequently went up. Jane’s trembling lower lip was bleeding, and she had a nasty bruise on her forehead that her blonde hair cannot cover. “Jane,” he replied. He heard the sirens of the coming ambulance, so he held his hand out to Jane. “We need to go before anyone finds us here.”

With years of living in the council estates and dealing with bigotry from authorities, it only took Jane five seconds to grab her purse then Eggsy’s outstretched hand. Together, they walked out of the alleyway, and Eggsy quickly tugged her towards Shaftesbury. He led her to the first coffee shop he saw. Jane tugs her hand back.

“Whut?” he asked, feeling stupid.

She tugged at the hem of her dress and looked down at her heel-clad feet. Ah yes.

“It’s fine,” he reassured her, “We need to clean up your face, aight?” At her nod, they went inside the coffee shop and went straight to the ladies’ room. The baristas’ eyes followed their progress, but Eggsy just ignored them. Eggsy urged her in. “Go on. Clean up. I’ll be here when you’re done.”

She took a while, but when she came out of the lavatory she looked a bit better. She’s still as white as paper, but she cleaned her face and wiped her dress as much as she could. The cut on her lip no longer bled and the bruise on her forehead was not as huge as he originally thought.

“C’mon,” he guided her towards an empty table and went to order coffee for the two of them.

_“And a sandwich, lad.”_

“I _know_ ,” he muttered under his breath. “Fuck. Off. Merlin.”

He ordered the biggest sandwich they had, cut in half.

_“You still need to be debriefed.”_

“I know. Just—Give me a couple of hours, yeah? I just. She’s a friend.”

Merlin sighed. _“Very well. A couple of hours, Eggsy. However, keep this line open, just in case.”_ Eggsy nodded to visibly tell Merlin he understood.

When Eggsy got back to the table with his bounty, Jane’s eyes widened.

“Stop,” he said before she opened her mouth. “Don’t. We’re friends, yeah? And friends help each other. And buy each other coffee.”

She smiled at that. “And very large sandwiches.”

He chuckled. “What, I’m starving. Go on.” He pressed a steaming mug of coffee into her hand. “The coffee will do you good.”

He grabbed one half of the sandwich and started eating, figuring that the smell of food and the sight of Eggsy eating would make her admit that she’s hungry as well. After a few sips of coffee, she took a bite of her sandwich. They ate and drank their coffee in silence. After a while, she talked.

“I heard from Jamal that you’re a tailor now but it’s still kinda hard to believe, y’know?” She’s shy as she looked at him. Eggsy wondered what exactly she saw.

“Oh, believe me, I can hardly believe it myself. I know fuck all about sewing.”

She chuckled. After a few seconds, Jane opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, but no words came out. Eggsy took pity on her and saves her the trouble.

“You don’t have to tell me about it, but I got this feeling that this ain’t somethin’ we can ignore.”

“Boyfriend,” Jane whispered. “Tyrone is...was my boyfriend.”

“You wanna tell me what happened?”

She shook her head and shut her eyes as the tears began to spill. “He wanted me to _entertain_ his friends, that fucker. I said no. He hit me. Then, you came. End of story.”

“S’alright.” He covered her hand with his to stop himself from going back and beating the shit out of the guy.

“Fucking stupid. I’m fucking stupid. He was so nice, you know?” Eggsy nodded. He did know. That’s exactly how Dean started—with flowers and dates, and then, drugs and slaps.

“You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for.” At her raised eyebrow, he elaborated. “You said no.”

Jane huffed. “Fucking weird.”

Eggsy frowned. “What’s fucking weird?”

“You talkin’ proper.” Her eyes twinkled at him, looking more like the girl he knew growing up.

He chuckled. “When you’re surrounded by posh blokes who talk proper all day, you pick up some things, y’know? But, I ain’t so proper to stop cursing. Drives my boss mad.”

She laughed.

“There’s my girl,” Eggsy winked. She laughed some more and kicked his shin.

“Not your girl, ass-face.” Then, the smile dropped off her face. “He knows where I live.”

“And he ain’t gonna be happy that he got dropped,” Eggsy finished the thought for her.

She went whiter, and Eggsy held her hand again. “Oi, we’ll figure somethin’ out, yeah?”

Jane hung her head.

After a minute of silence, he asked, “You got anywhere to go?”

She buried her head in her hands. He knew what she’s going through—had seen it all from his mum and Dean. Which gave him an idea.

“Listen,” he leaned in closer. “Why don’t you stay at my mum’s for a while? They have a guest room where you can stay in. I’m sure she won’t mind.”

“I can’t, Eggsy. Your mum already has enough on her plate. She has Daisy--”

“So? It’s not like you need changing or be put to bed.” Jane snorted, and he smirked. “Just lay low for a few days, yeah? Until we’re sure that Tyrone is gone for good. Then, you can find ‘nuther place to live.”

Jane bit her lower lip in contemplation. Eggsy knew he won the argument when she asked, “You sure Mrs. B. won’t mind?”

oOo

Upon entering their favorite coffee shop with Harry, Eggsy heard his voice called by a familiar female voice. He turned to find Jane’s cheerful face.

“Jane!” Eggsy hugged Jane carefully due to the cups of coffees she had on each hand. She was smiling widely as she and Eggsy broke apart. “Harry, this is Jane, a friend of mine. Jane, Harry, my partner.”

Jane raised an eyebrow, while Harry, the charming bastard, smiled and bowed a little. “Pleasure to meet you, Jane.”

Eggsy rolled his eyes.

“I’ll leave you two to catch up. I’ll order and grab us a table, Eggsy.” At Eggsy’s nod, Harry walked up to the counter.

Eggsy turned to Jane. “How are you? It’s been three months since I’ve seen you. And what’s with the coffees? Late night last night?”

Jane chuckled and shook her head. “Nah, I keep it straight these days. And one of these,” Jane raised the coffees, “is for my boss.”

Eggsy raised an eyebrow. “Your boss? Sweet. When did that start?”

“Not like that, asshole.” Jane rolled her eyes. “I, uh, I went to our old school to look for a job, but there weren’t any. But then Mrs. Collins—remember her?—she saw me and we got to talking. And anyway, she said she knew someone at Regent’s. A physics professor who needed an assistant.”

Eggsy’s smile grew. “And?”

“ _And_ ,” Jane glared at Eggsy, “she wrote me a recommendation. She said it wasn’t a done deal, mind, and that I’d have to show up for the interview and shit. So I did. And, I got the job.”

Eggsy could tell that Jane tried to mask the excitement in her voice but she didn’t quite succeed. Grinning, he hugged Jane again. “Congratulations! You deserve it.”

Turning slightly pink, Jane mumbled her thanks. “Anyway…I’ve been meaning to call you actually.”

“Okay. You need help? Another recommendation? Anything, you know that.”

“No, not that. I just wanted to thank you, you know. For helping me that time. Staying at your mum’s, I realize that I needed to get my shit together, you know? And that, uh, if you tried enough to get a decent job, then I could too, yeah? All I needed was to try.”

“You’re welcome. And I meant what I said: you deserve it. And everybody deserves a second chance.”

Jane chuckled and shook her head. “Only you, Eggsy. Look, I gotta go now, okay? That physics professor gets cranky without coffee. Keep in touch, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Eggsy agreed. He watched as Jane left the coffee shop, happy that Jane was happy.


End file.
